Podkayne of Mars by Robert Heinlein

Fiction: Sci-Fi. Unabridged audiobook from Blackstone Audio. Published in 1963, recorded 2008. Six hours, one minute. Read by Emily Janice Card. Purchased at Audible.com.

This is the first Robert Heinlein I’ve read, and though the book has a very abrupt ending, it was an entertaining story. I have to say, though, that if his politics are as blatant in his other books as they are in this one, I’m not really sure I’m interested in reading them. He might as well have titled the book How Podkayne Decides Women Are Better Suited to Stay at Home and Raise Babies. I suppose I’ll probably try one more to see if this one is an anomaly, because his Sci-Fi stuff that’s mixed in is great, but if it’s not, I think I’m going to pass on any more of his work.

Publisher’s Summary:From the author of Friday and Rocketship Galileo comes this classic tale featuring the Grand Master of science fiction’s most remarkable heroine.

Podkayne Fries, a smart and determined maid of Mars, has just one goal in life: to become the first female starship pilot and rise through the ranks to command deep-space explorations. So when she is offered a chance to join her diplomatic uncle on an interstellar journey to distant Earth via Venus, it’s a dream come true – even if her only experience with diplomacy is handling her brilliant but pesky younger brother, Clark.

But she’s about to learn some things about war and peace, because Uncle Tom, the ambassador plenipotentiary from Mars to the Three Planets Conference, is traveling not quite incognito enough – and certain parties will stop at nothing to sabotage negotiations between the three worlds.